Usotsuki

Thank you for your replies, I will take the advice I heard to heart including the advice that is not visible in this thread at this time. I have not gone to the doctor for a professional diagnosis of a deviated septum. After that one sparring match my nose was slightly crooked and ever since then I have not been able to breathe out of my one nostril. according to my online research a deviated septum is the following: "Nasal septum deviation is a common physical disorder of the nose, involving a displacement of the nasal septum. It is most frequently caused by impact trauma, such as by a blow to the face." The cartlidge in a nose is soft and therefore punches to the nose can definitely result in blocking the passageways permanently without even having to break the nose. Whether I have the official medical "deviated septum" or not, the case is that since being punched in the nose a few times I cannot breathe out of it as I did before. I have come to accept this as a reality in this certain karate style as one would accept this when taking up boxing. This was just a certain stumbling block for the white belt with little fighting experience that I am. To me it's not really about the pain of getting hit, but more the permanent injuries such as missing teeth and broken noses. Once again thanks for your posts, I will talk to my sensei about it.

I've been a practitioner of the wado-ryu fullcontact karate style for a few months now, and there's one thing that's been bothering me. In the style/dojo that I attend, punches to the nose/face are commonplace and are expected of you. This didn't really sink in until my recent sparring session with a black belt where I was repeatedly punched in the nose/face, with restraint mind you, but nevertheless it did hurt for a good few days. Everytime I came in close range the opponent would always strike my face and if my block was high, my body would take a beating. (I would gladly take 100 body punches over 1 face punch) Due to this I have realized breathing out of my nose has become more difficult and I have read that this is called a deviated septum and is common in the boxing world. How should a beginning karate practitioner deal with this? I'm not really too keen on getting my nose smashed in any further as I'm sure that if the black belt were serious I would have probably been quite deformed at the end of that sparring session. I have thought long and hard and if I were to attend a style that does not allow face punches, that would probably preserve my ability to breath through my nose/sleep at night, but it would hinder me in a real fight. Any advice for a whitebelt such as myself?